Tweak

InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I'm 30"

Micah Castro Braden // Doctor Watson, I presume (acatalyst) wrote in bellumlogs,
@ 2010-05-29 17:07:00

Entry tags:

dorian gray, dr. watson, ichabod crane

Who: Micah, Cole and Trenton
What: ~~Revenge~~ Justice
Where: P4
When: Immediately after this
Warnings: Going on a limb and guessing language and violence

Irene's voice had been playing in the background when Micah had received Cole's forum post.

The timing couldn't have possibly been worse.

Micah had known that Iris was afraid, that she'd been through terrible things, that she was in love with Eliot and not with him. He'd known all of those things, but he'd never (even once) thought he was making things worse for her.

He scared her.

Iris had told him before that Irene knew her, that they were almost one in the same. He didn't once think Irene was lying in the recording.

He scared her.

And she (through Irene) was letting him know; letting him know to stay away, to stop, to leave her alone.

He played the recording once more, and then he slammed his fist into computer desk, bruising his knuckles against the thick, expensive, new wood.

Then he grabbed his gun, and he climbed the floor to the P-level to deal with a murderer.

The timing couldn't have possibly been worse.

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cyprian
2010-05-31 02:58 am UTC (link)

Okay, now he saw the gun. His adorably lopsided smile actually slipped out of place and Trenton might have only just verified that these two assholes really broke down his door. His fucking door? What the hell, they couldn't have knocked? He'd probably have stupidly let them in, like he'd done in the case of the man with the knife! The urge to curse and whine was immediate, but he wisely said nothing while one of the men, Micah apparently, started growling at him in another language. "Look, I don't speak Italian.."

He regarded the nameless one for a moment of silence that bordered on intensity, trying to discern how serious they were. Well, there was a gun.. so that was already a bad sign. His eyes widened a little at the idea of getting shot, but between the drugs and the awareness that he was practically an immortal robot from space now, he just couldn't be too worried about that. Being labeled a murderer and a rapist, though? That made him wince visibly.

Finally, he cleared his throat, "I didn't murder or rape anybody.." Those were strong words for anything Trenton might have done recently. Yes, someone might have died.. but it wasn't HIS fault!

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acatalyst
2010-05-31 03:09 am UTC (link)

Yeah, no.

Micah wasn't in the mood for whatever the fuck was coming out of Trenton's mouth right now, and he sheathed the gun and went for a more direct approach.

He stormed up to Trenton, and he grabbed him by the fabric of his expensive shirt, and he slammed the other man against the wall. "I'm so not in the mood for your shit," he hissed, and he wasn't. "Cobarde," he added, letting go of the fabric and sending his fist straight into the other man's jaw before backing up toward Cole.

He wasn't calm enough to do this and that was becoming immediately obvious. "You kill a boy, and you rape a girl, and then you lie to us about it?" he demanded. "Eran niños," he yelled. They were nothing more than children.

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blackcatsrbad
2010-05-31 03:43 am UTC (link)

He'd been counting on Trenton's denial, but before he could even take a step forward Micah had beat him to it. He held himself back, although the surge of satisfaction he felt when he saw Micah's fist connecting with his jaw was unmistakable. The pain would be nothing compared to what he'd done, to Boyd and Aaron and probably a number of other people, but it was a start.

Even in his anger, though, Cole knew that his friend's control was slipping - and if he ended up using that gun, things would be bad. He couldn't let it get that far. He placed a restraining hand on Micah's arm and gave him a look before approaching Trenton himself. He was close enough to mess up that smug face of his pretty well, but he kept his hands at his sides. "I know you murdered Aaron," he said quietly, watching the other man's face for any sign of recognition. "Just like I know you raped Boyd. You two fought about Shiloh, didn't you? Then Aaron came up here, he saw Boyd and thought she was dead - and he got angry. So you killed him, you killed a fucking kid; and then you dragged his body down to the catacombs and buried him there, thinking that no one would ever know and you'd get away scot-free." He inhaled sharply, trying to keep his anger in check. "But you were wrong. Everyone will know what you did, and then you'll get what you deserve. Your money isn't going to help you out of this one, Trenton."

Cole regarded him for another moment, and then he snapped and suddenly his fist was swinging low and aiming for Trenton's stomach. Oops. He returned to Micah's side, still seething. "Where are we keeping him until his trial?"

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cyprian
2010-05-31 04:17 am UTC (link)

"What the fuck, man, I didn't--" The words crumbled in on themselves as Trenton was pressed into the wall and subsequently decked quite solidly. He sagged against the smooth plaster, but managed to keep his balance despite the taste of blood in his mouth and the way the world spun in front of his blown-wide pupils. Our boy was no fucking slouch when it came to violence, if anybody in the building knew how to take a punch, it was Trenton. He'd had enough practice, after all. Once the initially bleary wincing subsided, he recovered with a shit-eating grin. An honest to God smile, even if blood smeared the veneered white of his teeth.

The nameless man came into his periphery, and Trenton sniffed with recovery as he straightened up his posture. Blood was dripping onto his shirt, but he didn't seem to notice. To be honest, he was probably high enough to not have realized he was even bleeding yet. His focus tightened as the stranger spoke, accusing him. Somehow, it wasn't until mention of Shiloh that those bluegreen eyes betrayed any flicker of pain. His brows tucked and the hostility was suddenly there in spades. "Yeah? And who the fuck are--"

He doubled over with the next punch, worried for a minute that he puke up his capri sun.. but after heaving to catch his breath, the sensation faded. ".. you? What do you know about me or my money?" Trenton panted, and slowly straightened again with a leery eye, waiting to get hit again.

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acatalyst
2010-05-31 04:27 am UTC (link)

When Cole's hand rested on his arm, Micah wasn't surprised. When Cole's fist found Trenton's stomach, however, he was. Cole was the last person Micah expected violence from, and it made something click in his mind, made him calm just enough to listen to what Cole was saying, to register the words. He had no idea who Shiloh was, or why anyone would be fighting about him. He didn't have the pieces to this puzzle, but it didn't change a damn thing. No matter why Trenton did it, it couldn't go unpunished - not any of it. And thanks to Micah's ability, he knew Trenton was guilty; it was as simple as that.

With the clarity came the realization that there were drugs in the apartment, and that Trenton was (most likely) high. He'd seen Boyd's hospital report before it had disappeared, and he knew there had been copious amounts of drugs in her system, but he hadn't found any indication of that in Aaron's autopsy. "You had to drug her too, you sick bastard?" he asked, and he couldn't help but think of Iris in that moment. "What kind of asshole gets off on fucking women who don't want him?" he hissed.

When Trenton straightened, Micah didn't throw another punch, and he didn't pull his gun. "We're arresting you, and we're locking you in the catacombs, and we're putting you on trial, you sick, motherfucking, hijo de puta."

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blackcatsrbad
2010-05-31 04:51 am UTC (link)

It was the absence of guilt that really got to him. He didn't care if it was an 'accident' or not - they'd charge him with second degree murder instead of first, if those classifications even applied within the confines of the building. Trenton had provoked Aaron enough over the forums and if Boyd had been drugged before being raped then she could have easily appeared dead to the untrained eye. It made him sick that the last thing the boy had likely thought before his own death was that Boyd was dead, that he'd been too late to save her. Trenton was responsible for someone's death and all he could do was stand there and deny it. He even had the audacity to smile. There were words for people like that, who could commit murder and think nothing of it, and they deserved a fate far worse than jail.

"Who am I?" He glared at him, failing to realize that the other man wouldn't have recognized him. "I'm Cole. I taught Aaron, you bastard, and I'm the one Shiloh asked to look after him when he left," he snapped. "You can come quietly, or you can make it difficult. Personally, I'm completely fucking fine with doing this the hard way."

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cyprian
2010-05-31 05:28 am UTC (link)

"You two don't know fucking shit!" Trenton was roused now, and while he didn't try to scramble away from the wall, he sure as hell bristled against it. It stemmed from the initial mention of Shiloh; it revved the heart and sped the adrenaline, and now he realized that he was bleeding(which wouldn't last long, but it was the principle), and he was extremely pissed.

You had to drug her too, you sick bastard?

"NO! I've already been through this shit, you both can get the fuck out of my face, suck my fucking dick, I didn't KILL anyone, and you can ASK BOYD before you get all in my shit and try to be the motherfucking boyscout brigade!" Seething, his attention tightened on Cole immediately, and Trenton was off the wall like a lick of fire. Shiloh, again. All these fucking reminders; Boyd and Aaron and Shiloh.. it was everything he tried to cram down and block out, and now.. that just wasn't working. He almost wished Micah would shoot him so he'd have something else to think about. He swung a closed fist at Cole's face with the fervor of an attack dog. A skinny attack dog on coke.

"Cole.." The name rang a bell, "This is about fucking with Ileana, isn't it?!"

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acatalyst
2010-05-31 05:35 am UTC (link)

Micah didn't know what the reference to Ileana was, but even he (out of the loop as he was) knew that a woman's name plus a mention of fucking in the same sentence? Was bound to be nothing but fucking trouble. He didn't catch Trenton before he threw the punch, but he sure as fuck caught him after.

He grabbed Trenton's arms from behind easily, his height and broadness making it an effortless thing, and he stood behind him and hissed in his ear. "You have a fucking death wish, mi herma?" he asked the other man, then he looked over Trenton's shoulder at Cole. "What the hell is he talking about?" he asked, because maybe words would keep Cole from taking another punch, but if this was about what Micah thought it was about, he'd be glad to hold the skinny bastard while Cole made ground meat of his face.

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blackcatsrbad
2010-05-31 06:05 am UTC (link)

Cole could handle a lot of things. Sometimes his ability to control his temper was surprising, but he never lost control. There had never been reason enough to cause him to snap, because he was rational and level-headed. He was the voice of reason when others chose to let impulse drive them. But when Trenton aimed a swing at him and had the gall to mention Ileana, something inside him snapped.

The punch didn't have much of an impact, and he barely felt the pain through his anger. All attempts at keeping calm were gone as he lunged at Trenton, his fist meeting flesh for the second time. "You son of a bitch," he hissed, barely hearing Micah's question through the roaring in his ears. "Aaron fucking told me you killed him, Trenton. Because of you he has to come back to life once a month, knowing that once the sun sets he'll die all over again! You did this to him, and now he can't even rest in peace. Keep denying it - I expect nothing less from a piece of shit like you." He made a move forward, as though he was going to hit Trenton again, but his hands stayed by his side. "This isn't about Ileana, and you're not even worth enough to be saying her name out loud, so shut the fuck up." He turned to Micah, still scowling. "Ileana's my girlfriend. Before we were officially together, she and this asshole made out in an elevator. It didn't go beyond that, and she told me about it afterward."

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cyprian
2010-05-31 06:24 am UTC (link)

Death wish? Sure, why the hell not. You'd be surprised how far some people would go to reach for the unattainable, no matter how contradictory it was to their survival instincts. His arms were wrenched back and held to enough of a degree that he wasn't getting loose any time soon, unless he wanted to break something. Which he was considering, strongly.

There was a wounded sound that hissed loose when Cole hit him again, the pain was beginning to surface and sober him up. Or maybe it was the adrenaline, regardless, he was beginning really regret living in this building. He barely listened to Cole's rant, making a small sound of sick amusement when Cole explained that Ileana and him hadn't gone any further than the elevator. As if it wouldn't have gone anywhere Trenton had wanted it to at the time.

"Whatever, she fucking wanted it, man." He licked his lip and spit some blood, brows popping expectantly at Cole.

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acatalyst
2010-05-31 06:43 am UTC (link)

That was the last fucking straw. Micah didn't even know Ileana, but he spun Trenton around and smashed his fist into the other man's face with enough force to send him back against the coffee table without moving himself. "Did Aaron ask for it? Did the girl you raped ask for it?" he demanded, advancing and crouching to grab Trenton's shirt and haul him to his feet again.

"Cole," he said, the other man's name hard on his lips. "Knock this piece of shit out so we can lock him up downstairs," he said. He was more than willing to do it himself, but Aaron, Boyd and Ileana, they were all people Cole knew and cared about; it was his right to beat Trenton to a bloody pulp if he wanted to. Micah had cuffs, purchased especially for this occasion after talking to Cole, and he'd get Joanie to construct a cell before the trial. But for now, handcuffs and a chain within sight of Aaron's shallow grave would do nicely.

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blackcatsrbad
2010-05-31 06:58 am UTC (link)

He shouldn't have been surprised that Trenton ignored everything he said and still wouldn't stop talking about Ileana. He was a murderer and a rapist and yet still insisted on being a smartass, and Cole's faith in mankind fell just a little bit more. The fact that people like this even existed was unbelievable. Luckily Micah saved him the trouble of busting his knuckles any more than they already were, and he couldn't even bring himself to care that they weren't exactly acting on the whole 'innocent until proven guilty' belief. Then again, this didn't really fit into the normal terms of the legal system. When the victim told you who his murderer was, there was no need for evidence.

Cole glared down at Trenton, briefly considering the option of taking him down like this - but he didn't deserve any mercy. "This is for Aaron," he said flatly, "And for Boyd." Then, with more force than he even knew he possessed, he drew his arm back and aimed a heavy blow at Trenton's jaw.

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cyprian
2010-05-31 07:21 am UTC (link)

After Micah's final, resounding hit, Trenton slumped against the coffee table. Still spitting blood, still so fucking out of it that he almost had it in him to laugh. But it's probably a good thing he didn't work up the energy to try. In his current state, it was a little difficult to really be worried about anything; even death felt like an abstract concept. A word with no meaning. He was bleeding fresh from a busted lip and quite possibly a broken nose, and if Micah hadn't hauled him back to his feet, Trenton might not have even been able to have gotten up on his own. When Micah asked if Aaron or Boyd had asked for it, Trenton's eyes burned with so much malice that the hate should have burned them both.

But Trenton didn't say anything, he knew that he wasn't getting away, but he didn't protest. It had taken claws and a knife to get the protests, the pleading explanations, out of him last time.

Besides, who were these two? A couple of fucking do-gooders who didn't have the faintest idea of what had gone down that night, or the dreams that kept Trenton awake. When Cole closed in on him, Trenton mustered up the courage and miserable fucking verve that it took to put on a most lecherous grin, hoping that Cole would hit him hard enough that he just might not ever wake up.

Because he knew that in the coming darkness, there wasn't even going to be a memory of pain. And when it finally came, he was right.

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acatalyst
2010-05-31 07:27 am UTC (link)

Only in Bellum could a 6'4 man haul someone over his shoulder and head for the elevator without an alarm being sounded anywhere. Micah wasn't particularly gentle with Trenton, but he wasn't overly rough either. Right now, he just wanted to get him out the door and down to the catacombs without incident.

He motioned to the door. "Make sure we're clear," he told Cole, all business now that there was something to be done and limited time before Trenton came back around.

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blackcatsrbad
2010-05-31 07:36 am UTC (link)

Cole saw the grin before Trenton slumped unconscious against the table, but it only made him that much more certain that this needed to be done. Murderers didn't deserve to get away without facing the consequences of their actions, and even with a lack of real police involvement, it wasn't going to be different here. "We should keep him locked up until he rots," he muttered, heading to the door and making sure there was no one around before motioning Micah forward.

He pressed the button for the elevator and waited, glancing back and forth along the hallway to make sure there was no one around. Once it arrived, he let Micah get on first before stepping forward after him, hitting the lobby button and praying the damned thing didn't stop until it reached the right floor.

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acatalyst
2010-05-31 07:41 am UTC (link)

Micah was also praying the damn elevator would work right for once, and he shifted Trenton on his shoulder when the elevator began to move.

"I have handcuffs and chain at the entrance to the catacombs," he explained. "Then we're going to need to fucking post about a tribunal or something," he said. "The law isn't going to do anything for us, and we need to get a system in place for this. He isn't the only bastard we're going to run across that needs to be dealt with," he said, wondering what the hell was going to become of all of them at this rate.

"Our fucking stories have it better than we do at this rate."

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blackcatsrbad
2010-05-31 07:48 am UTC (link)

Now that Trenton was unconscious and he actually had a chance to think, he realized that explaining this to the building wasn't going to be easy. A lot of people wouldn't like it, but they had to do something. They had evidence, a voice recording of Aaron saying Trenton had killed him, not to mention bits and pieces of evidence that could make it fit together. But in the future, it might not be as easy as this.

"We'll have to... elect people, or hold a vote or something. It won't be easy, deciding who has the authority, but we can't do nothing. We need some kind of system, like you said." Even as he said it, Cole knew it wasn't as easy as that. "Luther will probably want to be involved."

Personally, he agreed. Right now it'd be a lot easier to be Ichabod than it was to be himself.

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acatalyst
2010-05-31 07:52 am UTC (link)

"Elections," Micah said, stepping back as the elevator doors opened and waiting for Cole to check for passersby. The lobby might be busy, and they'd have to cross from the elevator to the basement entrance without being seen; a challenge, even late at night. "We have to let every resident vote for each spot on the tribunal, and we have to give a term office." He didn't add that they'd need to make sure no one paid off the voters. It was starting to remind him too much of home (politics always did), and he wasn't sure he could handle that right now.

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blackcatsrbad
2010-05-31 08:00 am UTC (link)

Cole didn't know very much about politics, but if they were going to try to be as democratic as possible, then elections were a good place to start. He peered out of the elevator, scanning the lobby and waiting a good minute before stepping out. He walked towards the entrance, waited again, and motioned Micah forward once he thought it was relatively safe. "Alright. We'll need people we can trust to count the votes, and we should somehow try to make sure no one is biased or swayed towards a certain person." The last thing they needed was some kind of dictatorship to form.

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acatalyst
2010-05-31 08:19 am UTC (link)

The stairs down to the basement were well lit and easy to navigate, as was the pool area beyond, but as they went further into the the building's foundation it got darker, and Micah motioned down to the supplies he'd left at the entrance to the catacombs proper. "I'll stay with him while you post," he offered, because he didn't want to risk someone letting Trenton go once they had him secured. "You'll need to ask Joanie to come down here and set up a cell too," he said, "but lock it. She worries about people knowing what she can do."

It was all very tactical, which made it easier for Micah to focus on. No feelings, no dead boys and raped girls. Just the immediate, tactical needs. "We need to do the vote immediately, so no one has a chance to be swayed. How many people? Three? Five?"

They were nearing the well now; Micah could hear the sound of water dripping as they approached.

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blackcatsrbad
2010-05-31 05:38 pm UTC (link)

He tried to move as quietly as possible as they made their way down to the basement, not that anyone seemed to be around. The last time he'd been down here he and John were following the trail of blood, and he knew he would never be able to forget what had been at the end of it. That poor kid in the trunk, and Aaron... it seemed almost fitting that Trenton be locked up down here. The idea of posting to the entire forums made him nervous, but he couldn't let someone else do it. He'd let Ella take the fall for the list, but this one was going to be on him. "Okay." He grabbed the supplies and followed him into the catacombs, wishing they'd brought a flashlight or something.

"Five might be better." Surely they could find five people the majority of the building trusted, although he couldn't deny that he hoped Micah and himself were on it. Appointing themselves, though, wouldn't be a very good start. "I'm assuming you and I don't get default positions or anything. I'm not sure people would like that very much. Should the vote be over the forums, then? I guess... people could lock their individual posts to me, since I'd be posting, and then I can tally up the votes?"

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acatalyst
2010-05-31 08:34 pm UTC (link)

Micah was exactly the opposite of gentle as he let Trenton fall to the dirty floor, and he crouched over the unconscious man and reached a hand out for the handcuffs. "Five," he agreed, cuffing Trenton's hands behind his back, making it impossible for him to use his hands to free himself. "Anonymous voting, and we hope we end up on the tribunal. Appointing ourselves is only going to cause problems. Everyone gets one vote, and the five with the most get appointed."

Admittedly, he was hoping certain people didn't make it on the tribunal, including most of the women in the building and whoever was responsible for the other attacks, but they had to be democratic and fair - it was, after all, the only reason Trenton was still alive.

He held a hand out for the chain. "Loop the other end on the well's metal."

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blackcatsrbad
2010-05-31 09:02 pm UTC (link)

He wasn't overly fond of the fact that there was a possibility he and Micah might be left off the tribunal, and to sit back and hope that the five people chosen would be fair required a lot of trust he didn't think he had, but there was nothing else they could do. "What do we do if there's a tie between more than five people? And if it's anonymous, how do we make sure people don't vote more than once?" Cole had a feeling the answer was going to be something along the lines of hoping people were honest enough to do this right.

He took the chain and glanced down at Trenton for a moment before doing what Micah instructed, looping it around as tightly as he could. "Some people aren't going to like the fact that we incarcerated Trenton on our own. Still, let's hope they can see reason. I'll post telling them about the tribunal and how the voting will work, and maybe for organizational purposes, have a separate post just for the voting."

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acatalyst
2010-05-31 09:16 pm UTC (link)

Micah took the end of the chain, opened the cuffs and closed them firmly through the metal loops. Trenton could walk about 10 feet around the well, and he could jump in and drown himself, but that was the extent of it.

He stood back, and he looked at the unconscious man with no small amount of pleasure, and then he wiped his hands on his jeans as he looked at Cole. "We trust them," he finally said, which was not what Cole wanted to hear. "It's the only thing we can do."

He stepped away, out of hearing range from Trenton. He didn't want to talk to the other man when he woke up; he just wanted to know if the piece of shit tried to get away. "Go. Remember to contact Joanie, and let's just fucking do this."

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blackcatsrbad
2010-05-31 10:56 pm UTC (link)

Cole nodded, resigned to the fact that they had to take a risk in order to try to maintain some semblance of law and order in the building. "Alright. I'll tell Joanie to come down here, and... let everyone else know what's going on." He felt better knowing that Micah had a gun, just in case someone tried to find Trenton and let him go. "Wish me luck." It was meant to be a joke but failed miserably, and he gave a half-shrug before turning and heading back up to his apartment.

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